The Mariah Owners Club - SC23 2008 Starter motor

Stevey,

I had asked that same question back in Jan of 2021. I never received a response.

It took me a while to figure it out, but it is possible to remove the starter without pulling the engine.

Luckily I am left handed. The work is entirely blind. There are two bolts that hold the starter on.

Try to feel for them and you will locate them. The issue that I had with mine was this plastic shroud that covers the flywheel. One of the bolt heads is touching that shroud and there wasn't enough room to even get a socket over the bolt head with my hand strength. I eventually learned how to get the socket lined up, then tap with something (i think i used a 1/2" wrench) to force the plastic to bend a little and allow the socket to correctly seat on the bolt head. It will wedge it in there and it won't fall off.

I then mounted a short extension to the socket and hooked up my ratchet to the extension. Sadly, at that point, I was only able to achieve about 1/16 of a turn on the ratchet. There is only about 4" clearance between the motor and the fiberglass hull. I was extremely frustrated at that point and wanted to just sink the boat.

I eventually calmed down and decided to spray PB Blaster on the bolts. It is another 100% blind process, but it was my last ditch effort after watching you tube videos and asking on forums for a week. I basically sprayed 1/2 a can in the genreal area of the starter. I remember deliberately bending the plastic tip to be sure it would spray every possible angle.

I drank a few beers the next day and after the sun started going down, I had enough courage to attempt the "final attempt." By now, I'd also learned that I could use my leg on the passenger seat post to force my left shoulder deeper into the boat cavity, providing another 1/8" of mobility to work with. I was a master at beating the socket onto the rear bolt head ( keep in mind I'd already cracked the first bolt 4-5 days prior and this was the last one holding me up ).

Then to my utter disbelief, the bolt cracked. It still took another 50 or so turns of the ratchet at 1/16 a turn each try--all this while just floating the ratchet on two fingers. To be honest I probably turned it more times than it needed to be turned. I realized I was spinning my wheels and slammed the motor with the butt end of my ratchet. The starter dropped just a little bit and luckily it got jammed in the shroud rather than falling into the bilge.

Using 1 hand, I cradled the starter loose and luckily I didn't drop it. Both bolts fell into the bilge but i was able to use a magnetic stick to retrieve them (they fall directly under the motor).

At this point I realized there were other wires connected to the starter still. I was fortunate enough to set the starter in a semi-safe location and take a break. There was a huge mark on my shoulder from forcing my arm into that cavity, but it was worth it.

Take the wires off and you'll be good to go. Oh wait! You want to find a starter for this boat? LOL! We couldn't find one (at least without waiting months for potentially the wrong one). My dad ended up knowing a dude that rebuilt them, but sadly, it took 2 weeks and we had to cancel our fishing trip.

Either way, the new starter was easy to mount after learning the process. Just take a photo of the wiring or you can unless you have that great of a memory. You will have to hook up I think it was 3 wires before you remount it. The ones that are open on the back are easy to remove/install when the starter is mounted.

I wish you the best of luck in your journey.